Otherworldly Merchant

Mrs. Qi asked me, “Can you tell me what is happening?”

I told Mrs. Qi what my thoughts were on the matter. I was absolutely certain that the cause of everything was the ink slab her husband had bought at a low price.

“Mrs. Qi, do you know the origin of that ink slab? Where did he get it? Was there something odd about the previous owner?”

Mrs. Qi shook her head. “I know the previous owner as he’s a neighbor of mine back in my hometown. He looks pretty ordinary, and it was his son who used this ink slab. Although it was a family heirloom, it’s common for people in my hometown to possess such items.”

I was pensive while I nodded. “It seems like I’ll have to visit your house at night time. I saw dark circles under Mr. Qi’s eyes, and his face was yellowish. I guess he won’t be able to endure for long.”

Mrs. Qi hurried to say, “You must save my husband!”

Then she gave me the key to her house.

I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. It seemed Mrs. Qi had indeed tried to trick me as she didn’t show me the key at first. I asked her to stay at the inn while I went to Mr. Qi’s.

On the way there, I received Li Mazi’s call. “Why aren’t you at your shop?”

“I’m on my way to Mr. Qi’s house.”

Li Mazi was startled. “Did something really happen to him?”

I sighed and replied, “From the clues I’ve gathered, it seems that Mr. Qi has encountered some evil spirit, but I’m not one hundred percent sure yet.”

I asked Li Mazi to join me at Mr. Qi’s; he readily agreed.

The reason I dared to go to Mr. Qi’s house without making any preparations was that the soul dwelling in the ink slab was that of a scholar. A soul of such nature was unlikely to attack people.

I could guess this much from Mr. Qi’s behavior. In all my previous encounters with otherworldly items, evil spirits would kill people without qualms. This time, the otherworldly item possessed someone just to draw beautiful pictures. Mr. Qi had just lost some weight for now; something that could really pose a threat to his life had yet to happen.

I thought it would be best not to use force. Instead, it would be better if we could solve this matter by talking things over.

Li Mazi was squatting next to Mr. Qi’s front door when I arrived. He got up and ran to meet me the moment he saw me. “Why didn't you bring any equipment?”

I told Li Mazi, “We shouldn’t use force. We have to persuade him with words. If he gets angry, we’ll just leave. I don’t think he’ll attack us.”

Li Mazi was still worried. “Still, shouldn’t we prepare something?”

“I’m here. What are you afraid of?” I said helplessly.

We knocked on his door, but Mr. Qi didn’t open. I guessed he was simply ignoring us. Having no other choice, I had to use the key to open the door.

Li Mazi was surprised when he saw the key. “Aren’t you afraid that Yin Xinyue will be jealous?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I have nothing to do with Mrs. Qi. You shouldn’t let your mind wander.”

Li Mazi shrugged. “All right, I trust you.”

All the house lights were off, and only some beams of light crept out of the bedroom. However, they looked really weak. I guessed the source wasn’t electric; it might have been some sort of candlelight.

Is it a power shortage? I looked at the power meter, and it was still on. Sure enough, it was Mr. Qi who was acting weird.

We carefully walked through the living room and peeped through the slit. Mr. Qi was sitting at his desk, frowning. A white candle was lit up in front of him.

His bright eyes were scrutinizing something, and he didn’t even dare to blink. He stood still and sighed from time to time.

Li Mazi wanted to call Mr. Qi, but I stopped him. Old Qi was very likely under the influence of some spirit. It could be dangerous if we disturbed him.

While I was pondering whether Mr. Qi was possessed or not, I saw him lift his head and peer straight back at us. The expression in his eyes was proud, elegant, and full of disdain. It seemed he was offended by our presence.

My heart skipped a bit. Damn, he saw us!

His look was strange, totally different from Mr. Qi’s usual vulgar look. I knew it was the evil spirit that was watching.

Since we had been discovered, there was no need to hide anymore. My intuition told me that he wouldn’t hurt us.

I took a deep breath and greeted him, “Good morning, sir.”

“Commoners whose head is filled with greed, you’re not qualified to talk to me,” he spat coldly then stood up, making his way toward us.

My heart raced frantically. Was he annoyed by our presence? Is he going to teach us a lesson? I’m starting to regret not bringing any weapons!

Li Mazi was a little flustered. “What should we do now? Do we beat him black and blue?”

I waved my hand, gesturing him not to panic. I wanted to do what he was going to do.

Mr. Qi’s gait was very elegant. He clasped his hands behind his back, strolling leisurely as if he were a king walking around his palace.

I forced myself to keep calm as I looked at Mr. Qi approaching us.

When Mr. Qi reached us, he simply threw us a despising look. But he ignored us after that and walked out of the room.

I exhaled in relief. It was good that he didn’t attack us.

He went straight to the bathroom after our brief encounter. He didn’t even bother to close the door or take his clothes off; he directly sat inside the bathtub and closed his eyes, apparently enjoying the sensation.

I was baffled. What kind of evil spirit is this? He’s just enjoying life! He possessed someone to enjoy a good bath?!

“What do we do? Do we just watch him take a nice and bubbly bath?” asked Li Mazi.

I scratched my head as I didn’t know what to do. This fellow didn’t act like the average evil spirit, so I didn’t know how to deal with him.

However, I decided to put up with him since we were already there and it would be a waste to leave without any clues.

After taking a nice bath, Mr. Qi took off his clothes then went back to his desk, staring absentmindedly at the candlelight.

A short moment after that, he did something that made our eyes pop out.

He clenched his left fist and forcefully pounded his own chest.

The blow was very strong, and I couldn’t help but imagine how much it must have hurt.

Is he trying to harm himself?

It was pretty common for evil spirits to harm the possessed body.

Li Mazi took a deep breath. “Little Brother Zhang, how should we deal with him? Mr. Qi will die if this continues.”

I signaled Li Mazi to stay quiet and observe.

I was anxiously trying to come up with a solution as I looked at Mr. Qi hit his own chest.

Before I could find a solution, Mr. Qi whimpered. Then, he spurted out a mouthful of blood.

That’s heart blood! I was shocked.

The heart blood was the purest type of blood in a person’s body; the Yang energy within was even stronger than the one found in fingertip blood. That was why Daoist priests used fingertip blood when arranging magic formations or drawing evil-expelling talismans. Only when they encountered something too hard to deal with would they use their heart blood.

All departed souls are afraid of heart blood, so why would this evil spirit make Mr. Qi spit it out?

Anyway, this explained why Mr. Qi looked pale and yellowish. It was because he often took baths and had his heart blood extracted.

A person’s heart blood was limited, and it was the foundation on which their body was built. After losing too much of it, the body would become weaker and prone to get sick.